Discovering the DC Magic of Mini & Maxi Titles

A limited series for a comic book is either classified as a mini or maxi series. A miniseries would normally be regarded as three to six issues while a maxiseries would be considered for a series that has seven and up, usually ending at twelve issues. In rare cases, we’ve even seen twenty-four issues and more constitute for a series.

In the past few years, DC Comics have utilized both mini and maxi-series forms of storytelling to tell more adventures of underused characters that might have a significant following attached, characters that might be getting a boost elsewhere in another medium, or to use as a testing ground for further exploration down the line.

With this article, I’ll be presenting various mini and maxi titles across the DC Universe landscape that show how quality can be greater than quantity and spotlights smaller characters with different flavored stories beyond normal superhero tales.

Around the same time as the hit television show was airing, Black Lightning was given a refresher series of sorts.

“Jefferson Pierce has returned to Cleveland, ready to teach students by day and bring his brand of superhero justice by night. But when criminals with black-market weapons based on alien technology start wreaking havoc on the city, Black Lightning is going to need more than the tech built into his new costume to retake the streets.”

Cold Dead Hands is a six-issue series that combines superheroics and powerful real-world topics that are ripped from the headlines. From gun control to how black people are treated in the eyes of the law, this series is a short and sweet refresher course for fans looking into Jefferson Pierce’s world.

Raven: Daughter of Darkness (Written by Marv Wolfman and Art by Pop Mhan)

A Titan of Mysticism! A Daughter of Darkness! Raven strikes out on her own with a journey that only she can go down! This twelve-issue miniseries focuses on both family drama and the dark side of the DC Universe when it comes to magic! “Her infernal father Trigon is determined to usher in hell on Earth by building an army of unstoppable warriors, using the power of his daughter as the doorway. Now Raven must join forces with her estranged mother Arella and the mysterious sorcerer Baron Winters to stop Trigon’s plot. The fight will send Raven rocketing through time and space. It will put the lives, and souls, of everyone close to her in jeopardy. And if this Daughter of Darkness fails, a far more terrible one may rise to take her place…”

In the wake of the Titans getting the live-action treatment, DC has made sure you can explore your favorites in more stories and this Raven’s miniseries (that is still ongoing) is just one of the examples. Prior to this series, you could also explore the “Bridge-The-Gap” miniseries simply titled “Raven” also written by the comic legend Marv Wolfman who paved the way for the Titans way back when with The New Teen Titans.

Both Raven-led titles are available to purchase on Comixology!

Mera: Queen of Atlantis (Written by Dan Abnett and Art by Lan Medina)

For the first time ever! The Queen of Atlantis is holding down her own series. Spinning out of events stemming from Aquaman, Mera is on her own and it’ll take everything to not get ripped to shreds as war rages all around her.

“As the brutal Atlantean Civil War rages, Mera must keep the peace between the surface world and Atlantis as its newly anointed queen in exile. But when Aquaman’s brother Orm, a.k.a. Ocean Master, learns of his homeland’s fate, he’ll stop at nothing to return to Atlantis as its king and savior!”

It’s the perfect time to get into the Aquaman section of the DCU with the film coming out in two months. Mera’s title works perfectly alongside the work that’s been going on in Aquaman and with her first ever title after guest stints in Justice League and Aquaman shows the powerhouse character she is and sets her up for even more exciting things back in Aquaman. You owe it to yourself to get acquainted with Arthur’s comrade and fellow Warrior with this six-issue miniseries.

The Demon: Hell is Earth (Written by Andrew Constant and Art by Brad Walker)

A different kind of series, for a different kind of Hero? Jason Blood and his rhyming Demon Counterpart, Etrigan are back and this series will take you to Hell! Jason and Etrigan have been quite the pairing before but this time they might just need each other when Hell comes knocking on our front door! If you want a series that involves punching Merlin, fighting armies literally from Hell, and personal stakes in Etrigan’s Life. DC has made the perfectly demonized six-issue miniseries for you.

Plastic Man is a funny guy. His life is kind of terrible but he makes the best of it.

“Meet Eel O’Brian: a petty thug, thief and con artist who runs a strip club. Hey, he’s also dead, at least according to the gang that tossed him out like last week’s garbage. Literally. Don’t worry, though-he bounced back from all that, and now he’s trying to make a new life for himself, but the effort is stretching him pretty thin. How can he get revenge on his old boss, keep a street kid out of trouble, make a dancer fall in love with him and stop a mysterious society from taking over the world? Eel has no idea!”

Plastic Man stepped back into the picture with the DC Comics Event titled Dark Knights: Metal, in the event he played a key role in some of the mysteries and action the other Heroes used to save the day. Now that he’s back, his unique powerset and personality are on full display in titles like his own miniseries and The Terrifics! If you need a Hero who doesn’t take life so seriously and screams superheroic hijinks, then Plastic Man is for you!

Duke Thomas. Teenager. New age Superhero who is training under Batman to be something more than another member of the Bat Family, something different. Duke Thomas aka The Signal made his debut as a young child during the Batman Event “Zero Year” back in 2013. Since then, he’s gradually been elevated into someone that can hold his own in the Superhero World of Gotham. His evolution took a major turn during Dark Days: The Casting, one of the Metal Preludes and through it he got his own three-issue series. That’s not to say they don’t have plenty of material about the young Hero. The volume he has covers his main series and the backmatter that makes up his training and gets inside about what makes him so different from other Gotham based Heroes.